In a processing system, conveyors are used to carry materials from one operation to the next. For operations to be performed effectively, the conveyed materials must meet some standard of purity. This requirement has produced various methods of separating flow elements in a conveyor system.
For example, in the forest products industry, machines operate on wood. The presence of harder substances such as metal can be dangerous to both the machines and the people operating them.
Conventionally, metal detectors are deployed along conveyors to stop the flow when metal is detected. The operators must then manually search for the metal and remove it. This method can disrupt production schedules.
When setting the sensitivity of the metal detector, the operator must strike a fine balance. A sensitive detector gives early warning and covers a large conveyor surface area. However, a sensitive detector needlessly disrupts flow when trace amounts of metal appear. Manual location and removal of these trace amounts is laborious.